Charles Davenant
Encyclopedia
Charles Davenant English
economist
, eldest son of Sir William Davenant, the poet, was born in London
.
and Balliol College, Oxford
, but left the university without taking a degree. At the age of nineteen he had composed a tragedy, Circe, which met with some success, but he soon turned his attention to law
, and having taken the degree of LL.D., he became a member of Doctors' Commons
. He was member of parliament successively for St Ives (Cornwall)
, and for Great Bedwyn
.
He held the post of commissioner of excise from 1683 to 1689, and that of inspector-general of exports and imports from 1705 till his death in 1714. He was also secretary to the commission appointed to treat for the union with Scotland.
As an economist, he must be classed as a strong supporter of the mercantile theory
, and in his economic pamphlets (as distinct from his political writings) he takes up an eclectic position, recommending governmental restrictions on colonial commerce as strongly as he advocates freedom of exchange at home.
Of his writings, a complete edition of which was published in London in 1771, the following are the more important:
and Cromwell
's Commonwealth
, and see Charles II
restored to the throne in the 1660 Restoration
. However, William D'Avenant died in 1668. Charles left school in 1673 and became manager of his father's theatre. In 1675 he gained a LL. D from Cambridge, was accepted into Doctor’s Commons, and began to practice civil law.
In 1678 Davenant was appointed Commissioner of the Excise, earning 500 pounds per year; taxes were collected using the “farming system”. In 1683 Britain ended the tax farming system, Davenant received £1000 per year as Commissioner. In 1685 he was elected to Parliament as M.P. for St Ives
. However, the revolution of 1688
saw James II
was exiled to France and William of Orange
installed as king by Parliament
. In 1689 Davenant lost his position as Commissioner of the Excise, and his loan to James II nullified.
In 1692 he applied for Controller of the Excise, with Godolphin
's support, but did not get the position. He applied again in 1694 and again failed to get the position, probably due to objections by Charles Montagu
, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
In late 1694 he published An Essay on the Ways and Means of supplying the War, “a reasoned criticism of the methods used to finance the war with France which England had been waging since 1689. It attacked long-term borrowing as detrimental to trade, and land taxation as inequitable, because of its uneven incidence across the country.”
In November, 1695 he wrote and read Memorial Concerning the Coyn of England to the Privy Council
. This work, commissioned by the Lords Justices, was an argument against the majority party’s proposal that England’s coins should be devalued to pay for the war with France.
In 1696 he published A Memorial Concerning a Council of Trade, which promoted his idea that trade should be protected, and A Memorial Concerning Credit and the Means and Methods whereby it may be Restored, generally viewed as an attempt to curry favour with the party in power in order to gain a post in the Excise department.
In October 1696 he published Essay on Publick Virtue, a diatribe against the ruling Whig Junto
, and a show of support for his friends in government, Shrewsbury
and Godolphin, who were under political attack. Godolphin resigned shortly afterward, and Davenant lost his main supporter for appointment to a public office.
In 1696 he published Essay on the East India Trade in which he “opposed the protection of English Textiles against Indian competition on the grounds that commerce with East India improved Britain’s balance of trade, and he refuted the arguments of the protectionists with further applications of the balance of trade concept.”
In 1697 published Discourses on the Publick Revenues and on the Trade of England, part 1, which contained strong objections to long-term borrowing as a way to fund government expenditures and advocated paying back the debt incurred during the war as soon as possible. The basis for Davenant's argument was that “high taxation for debt service was a burden on trade, industry, and land.” Davenant still believed that land tax was unfair because it placed the heaviest burden of generating public income on the landed gentry, and that the long term result would be that the gentry would be forced to sell their land to “monied men and usurers” to pay the taxes.
In 1698 he published Discourses on the Publick Revenues and on the Trade of England part 2, which described “in a more sustained and complete form the idea of the ‘general’ balance of trade.” There is a likely possibility that this pamphlet was also intended to keep his name before the officials of the East India Company
as someone who was sympathetic to their business because he was trying to get them to hire him as an agent.
In 1698 Davenant returned to Parliament as a representative of Great Bedwyn
; he became associated with the Tory party, which replaced the Whig Junto
as the majority in Parliament. In early 1699 he published An Essay on the probable Methods of making a People Gainers in the Balance of Trade, which quoted Gregory King’s calculation of the value and size of the “natural resources of England.” The last section contained an attack on the actions and policies of the Junto party and was more of a political rant than an exposition of economic ideas. At the end of 1699 he published A Discourse of Grants and Resumptions, which discussed the practice of the king and queen of England granting “forfeited Irish Estates” to friends and political allies of the Junto party. Davenant’s writings begin to shift away from purely economic discussions to political commentary designed to curry favour with the ruling party in order to secure employment. In 1701 he published Essays upon I The Balance of Power II The Right of Making War, Peace, and Alliances III Universal Monarchy, “a highly partisan attack on William III’s foreign policy.” Davenant was linked to French agents in March 1701, and it was suspected, but not proved, that the French government tried to bribe him to promote their interests and to provide intelligence if England declared war on France. There is evidence that a French agent recommended bribing Davenant, but there is no evidence that “a bribe was ever actually offered or accepted.” The link with the French agent tarnished Davenant’s public and political reputation.
In August 1701 Davenant published The True Picture of a Modern Whig, an attempt to counter the Whig party’s push to dissolve the Tory party Parliament by “defending Tory views and exposing Whig motives.” His Tom Double Returned out of the Country, also published 1701, explained all of Davenant’s ideas on trade and public finance and the underlying reasoning behind them. His main concern was that the Whig party would restart the war with France and put the country further into debt, which would in turn require greater taxation of land owners. The land owners would be bankrupted, and the people who had made money off the war would be able to buy the land and usurp the political power of the gentry.
In 1702 Queen Anne assumed the throne. The Junto Pembroke Ministry was removed from power, and Davenant’s friends – Godolphin, Nottingham
, and Harley – were placed in positions of power in the Coalition Ministry
. In September 1702 Davenant was appointed to the Secretaryship of a commission to negotiate for the union of Scotland and England. In June 1703 he was appointed Inspector General of the Imports and Exports. His Essays upon Peace at Home and War Abroad, published November 1703, “promoted ‘moderation’ and the anti-party attitude favoured by the Queen and Harley.” This pamphlet angered his friends in the Tory party because it was in opposition to the policies the party was pushing at the time. Before 1702, he was the leading promoter of party ideas. With this essay, he was falling out of favour and gaining a reputation for promoting whatever idea benefits him the most personally.
In 1703 there is some evidence that Davenant is spending more than he makes by this time.
In 1704 Davenant proposed compiling trade numbers for the previous 25 years. The cost of clerks to do the actual tabulation was the primary reason for denial of his request. Davenant visited Holland in Autumn 1705 to research wartime traffic between France and Holland. He wrote, but did not publish, Memorial Concerning the Free Trade now Tolerated between France and Holland. The goal was to find support for the current policy of permitting trade between France and Holland. Davenant displayed a favourable opinion of the Dutch in this pamphlet, which contrasts with the position taken in nearly all his other pamphlets.
In 1709 Davenant published Reflections upon the Constitution and Management of Trade to Africa, in which he “reverted to his normal attitude of suspicion and outright hostility towards the Dutch.” This pamphlet advocated renewing the Royal African Company’s monopoly on slave trade on the basis that the Dutch competition “necessitated the maintenance of forts, which only a joint-stock company could afford.” Waddell states that there had been close collaboration between the company and Davenant and that he may have been compensated for writing it. He did go to great lengths to publish the pamphlet anonymously, and was apparently in a difficult financial position; Waddell therefore suggests that this was a work-for-hire and not necessarily something which Davenant actually supported.
In 1710 Godolphin lost his office, which removed one of Davenant’s supporters from power and threatened his position as Inspector General of the Imports and Exports. Davenant wrote Sir Thomas Double at Court and New Dialogues upon the Present Posture of Affairs in order to make amends with the Tory party, which was likely to be returning to power. Sir Thomas Double at Court reversed Davenant’s argument for moderation in his 1703 Essays upon Peace at Home and War Abroad; and New Dialogues upon the Present Posture of Affairs repeated the attacks on the methods of financing public spending that he had been stating since 1689. He also reversed his stance from Memorial Concerning the Free Trade now Tolerated between France and Holland and argued that the Dutch were benefitting from trade with France while “Britain bore the burden of the war.”
In 1712 Davenant published two Reports to the … Commissioners for … Public Accounts. Although these reports contained a large amount of statistical data, they continued the theme from “New Dialogues upon the Present Posture of Affairs” that Holland benefitted from trade with France while Britain took on heavy debt during the war with France and that trade with France “was or could be advantageous to England.” This coincided with Jonathan Swift
’s Conduct of the Allies and provided the economic basis for peace and a commercial treaty with France.
Davenant died in 1714.
Davenant is also credited with being the first to discuss the concept of Balance of Trade as being an important part of the financial health of a country. The foundation of the idea is that importing more goods than were exported would create an outflow of currency. He proposed in An Essay on Ways and Means of Supplying the War in 1695 that “export surplus was the best way to finance the war” as opposed to taking on long term debt and increasing taxes on landowners.
In 1696, Davenant wrote Essay on the East-India Trade, which continued the argument that imports should not be restricted because England was a net exporter of the goods imported from India. The restriction of imports would prevent re-exporting the goods to the rest of Europe, and that would decrease the total income of the government. He also expressed a great dislike and distrust of the Dutch government for most of his life, and feared that if Britain did not supply Indian imports the Dutch would supply Europe instead. He did seem to be the first to understand the basic concepts of consumer demand and perfect competition, even though bias against the Dutch stems more from fear of a political challenger to England than fear of losing the competitive advantage of England’s monopoly in India.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
, eldest son of Sir William Davenant, the poet, was born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Overview
He was educated at Cheam grammar schoolCheam School
Cheam School is a preparatory school in Headley in the civil parish of Ashford Hill with Headley in the English county of Hampshire. It was founded in 1645 by the Reverend George Aldrich in Cheam, Surrey and has been in operation ever since....
and Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, but left the university without taking a degree. At the age of nineteen he had composed a tragedy, Circe, which met with some success, but he soon turned his attention to law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, and having taken the degree of LL.D., he became a member of Doctors' Commons
Doctors' Commons
Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil law in London. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawyers, the society had buildings with rooms where its members lived and worked, and a large library...
. He was member of parliament successively for St Ives (Cornwall)
St Ives (UK Parliament constituency)
St. Ives is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-History:...
, and for Great Bedwyn
Great Bedwyn (UK Parliament constituency)
Great Bedwyn was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-1295–1640:-1640–1832:Notes...
.
He held the post of commissioner of excise from 1683 to 1689, and that of inspector-general of exports and imports from 1705 till his death in 1714. He was also secretary to the commission appointed to treat for the union with Scotland.
As an economist, he must be classed as a strong supporter of the mercantile theory
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...
, and in his economic pamphlets (as distinct from his political writings) he takes up an eclectic position, recommending governmental restrictions on colonial commerce as strongly as he advocates freedom of exchange at home.
Of his writings, a complete edition of which was published in London in 1771, the following are the more important:
- An Essay on the East India Trade (1697)
- Two Discourses on the Public Revenues and Trade of England (1698)
- An Essay on the probable means of making the people gainers in the balance of TradeBalance of tradeThe balance of trade is the difference between the monetary value of exports and imports of output in an economy over a certain period. It is the relationship between a nation's imports and exports...
(1699) - A Discourse on Grants and Resumptions and Essays on the Balance of Power (1701)
Biography
Charles Davenant was born in 1656, son of Sir William D’Avenant, a well-known Poet Laureate and playwright. William D'Avenant, who had royalist sympathies, managed to survive the political turmoil of the civil warEnglish Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
and Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
's Commonwealth
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
, and see Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
restored to the throne in the 1660 Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
. However, William D'Avenant died in 1668. Charles left school in 1673 and became manager of his father's theatre. In 1675 he gained a LL. D from Cambridge, was accepted into Doctor’s Commons, and began to practice civil law.
In 1678 Davenant was appointed Commissioner of the Excise, earning 500 pounds per year; taxes were collected using the “farming system”. In 1683 Britain ended the tax farming system, Davenant received £1000 per year as Commissioner. In 1685 he was elected to Parliament as M.P. for St Ives
St Ives (UK Parliament constituency)
St. Ives is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-History:...
. However, the revolution of 1688
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
saw James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
was exiled to France and William of Orange
William II of England
William II , the third son of William I of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales...
installed as king by Parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
. In 1689 Davenant lost his position as Commissioner of the Excise, and his loan to James II nullified.
In 1692 he applied for Controller of the Excise, with Godolphin
Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin
Sir Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, KG, PC was a leading English politician of the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
's support, but did not get the position. He applied again in 1694 and again failed to get the position, probably due to objections by Charles Montagu
Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax
Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, KG, PC, FRS was an English poet and statesman.-Early life:Charles Montagu was born in Horton, Northamptonshire, the son of George Montagu, fifth son of 1st Earl of Manchester...
, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
In late 1694 he published An Essay on the Ways and Means of supplying the War, “a reasoned criticism of the methods used to finance the war with France which England had been waging since 1689. It attacked long-term borrowing as detrimental to trade, and land taxation as inequitable, because of its uneven incidence across the country.”
In November, 1695 he wrote and read Memorial Concerning the Coyn of England to the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
. This work, commissioned by the Lords Justices, was an argument against the majority party’s proposal that England’s coins should be devalued to pay for the war with France.
In 1696 he published A Memorial Concerning a Council of Trade, which promoted his idea that trade should be protected, and A Memorial Concerning Credit and the Means and Methods whereby it may be Restored, generally viewed as an attempt to curry favour with the party in power in order to gain a post in the Excise department.
In October 1696 he published Essay on Publick Virtue, a diatribe against the ruling Whig Junto
First Whig Junto
The First Whig Junto controlled the government of England from 1694 to 1699.Having slowly increased their presence in government under Lord Danby, the Whig Junto established dominance in 1694 with the appointment of Charles Montagu as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Danby remained in office, but the...
, and a show of support for his friends in government, Shrewsbury
Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury
Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, KG, PC was an English statesman. Born to Roman Catholic parents, he remained in that faith until 1679 when—during the time of the Popish Plot and following the advice of the divine John Tillotson—he converted to the Church of England...
and Godolphin, who were under political attack. Godolphin resigned shortly afterward, and Davenant lost his main supporter for appointment to a public office.
In 1696 he published Essay on the East India Trade in which he “opposed the protection of English Textiles against Indian competition on the grounds that commerce with East India improved Britain’s balance of trade, and he refuted the arguments of the protectionists with further applications of the balance of trade concept.”
In 1697 published Discourses on the Publick Revenues and on the Trade of England, part 1, which contained strong objections to long-term borrowing as a way to fund government expenditures and advocated paying back the debt incurred during the war as soon as possible. The basis for Davenant's argument was that “high taxation for debt service was a burden on trade, industry, and land.” Davenant still believed that land tax was unfair because it placed the heaviest burden of generating public income on the landed gentry, and that the long term result would be that the gentry would be forced to sell their land to “monied men and usurers” to pay the taxes.
In 1698 he published Discourses on the Publick Revenues and on the Trade of England part 2, which described “in a more sustained and complete form the idea of the ‘general’ balance of trade.” There is a likely possibility that this pamphlet was also intended to keep his name before the officials of the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
as someone who was sympathetic to their business because he was trying to get them to hire him as an agent.
In 1698 Davenant returned to Parliament as a representative of Great Bedwyn
Great Bedwyn (UK Parliament constituency)
Great Bedwyn was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-1295–1640:-1640–1832:Notes...
; he became associated with the Tory party, which replaced the Whig Junto
Whig Junto
The Whig Junto is the name given to a group of leading Whigs who were seen to direct the management of the Whig party and often the government, during the reigns of William III and Anne. The Whig Junto proper consisted of John Somers, later Baron Somers; Charles Montagu, later Earl of Halifax;...
as the majority in Parliament. In early 1699 he published An Essay on the probable Methods of making a People Gainers in the Balance of Trade, which quoted Gregory King’s calculation of the value and size of the “natural resources of England.” The last section contained an attack on the actions and policies of the Junto party and was more of a political rant than an exposition of economic ideas. At the end of 1699 he published A Discourse of Grants and Resumptions, which discussed the practice of the king and queen of England granting “forfeited Irish Estates” to friends and political allies of the Junto party. Davenant’s writings begin to shift away from purely economic discussions to political commentary designed to curry favour with the ruling party in order to secure employment. In 1701 he published Essays upon I The Balance of Power II The Right of Making War, Peace, and Alliances III Universal Monarchy, “a highly partisan attack on William III’s foreign policy.” Davenant was linked to French agents in March 1701, and it was suspected, but not proved, that the French government tried to bribe him to promote their interests and to provide intelligence if England declared war on France. There is evidence that a French agent recommended bribing Davenant, but there is no evidence that “a bribe was ever actually offered or accepted.” The link with the French agent tarnished Davenant’s public and political reputation.
In August 1701 Davenant published The True Picture of a Modern Whig, an attempt to counter the Whig party’s push to dissolve the Tory party Parliament by “defending Tory views and exposing Whig motives.” His Tom Double Returned out of the Country, also published 1701, explained all of Davenant’s ideas on trade and public finance and the underlying reasoning behind them. His main concern was that the Whig party would restart the war with France and put the country further into debt, which would in turn require greater taxation of land owners. The land owners would be bankrupted, and the people who had made money off the war would be able to buy the land and usurp the political power of the gentry.
In 1702 Queen Anne assumed the throne. The Junto Pembroke Ministry was removed from power, and Davenant’s friends – Godolphin, Nottingham
Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham
Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, 7th Earl of Winchilsea PC , was an English Tory statesman during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.-Early life:...
, and Harley – were placed in positions of power in the Coalition Ministry
Coalition Ministry
Upon Queen Anne's accession to the English throne in 1702, she appointed Lord Godolphin as First Lord of the Treasury and the Duke of Marlborough as Master-General of the Ordnance . They would lead this coalition of Tories and Whigs until 1708, one year after the Act of Union formed the Kingdom of...
. In September 1702 Davenant was appointed to the Secretaryship of a commission to negotiate for the union of Scotland and England. In June 1703 he was appointed Inspector General of the Imports and Exports. His Essays upon Peace at Home and War Abroad, published November 1703, “promoted ‘moderation’ and the anti-party attitude favoured by the Queen and Harley.” This pamphlet angered his friends in the Tory party because it was in opposition to the policies the party was pushing at the time. Before 1702, he was the leading promoter of party ideas. With this essay, he was falling out of favour and gaining a reputation for promoting whatever idea benefits him the most personally.
In 1703 there is some evidence that Davenant is spending more than he makes by this time.
In 1704 Davenant proposed compiling trade numbers for the previous 25 years. The cost of clerks to do the actual tabulation was the primary reason for denial of his request. Davenant visited Holland in Autumn 1705 to research wartime traffic between France and Holland. He wrote, but did not publish, Memorial Concerning the Free Trade now Tolerated between France and Holland. The goal was to find support for the current policy of permitting trade between France and Holland. Davenant displayed a favourable opinion of the Dutch in this pamphlet, which contrasts with the position taken in nearly all his other pamphlets.
In 1709 Davenant published Reflections upon the Constitution and Management of Trade to Africa, in which he “reverted to his normal attitude of suspicion and outright hostility towards the Dutch.” This pamphlet advocated renewing the Royal African Company’s monopoly on slave trade on the basis that the Dutch competition “necessitated the maintenance of forts, which only a joint-stock company could afford.” Waddell states that there had been close collaboration between the company and Davenant and that he may have been compensated for writing it. He did go to great lengths to publish the pamphlet anonymously, and was apparently in a difficult financial position; Waddell therefore suggests that this was a work-for-hire and not necessarily something which Davenant actually supported.
In 1710 Godolphin lost his office, which removed one of Davenant’s supporters from power and threatened his position as Inspector General of the Imports and Exports. Davenant wrote Sir Thomas Double at Court and New Dialogues upon the Present Posture of Affairs in order to make amends with the Tory party, which was likely to be returning to power. Sir Thomas Double at Court reversed Davenant’s argument for moderation in his 1703 Essays upon Peace at Home and War Abroad; and New Dialogues upon the Present Posture of Affairs repeated the attacks on the methods of financing public spending that he had been stating since 1689. He also reversed his stance from Memorial Concerning the Free Trade now Tolerated between France and Holland and argued that the Dutch were benefitting from trade with France while “Britain bore the burden of the war.”
In 1712 Davenant published two Reports to the … Commissioners for … Public Accounts. Although these reports contained a large amount of statistical data, they continued the theme from “New Dialogues upon the Present Posture of Affairs” that Holland benefitted from trade with France while Britain took on heavy debt during the war with France and that trade with France “was or could be advantageous to England.” This coincided with Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
’s Conduct of the Allies and provided the economic basis for peace and a commercial treaty with France.
Davenant died in 1714.
Contributions
There is some question whether the Law of Demand was developed by Gregory King and then used in some of Charles Davenant’s writings or whether King and Davenant jointly developed the idea based on King’s statistical work and published their theory in Davenant’s pamphlets. King does not describe a formal definition of the law in his journal, which is the primary source of his writings, and Davenant does not seem to be an innovative thinker and often wrote pamphlets to promote ideas or policies that would be beneficial to his personal economic or political status; therefore, it seems likely Davenant extended King’s work to prove his claims that borrowing to fund the war was bad for England’s economy and that excise taxes were the appropriate way to fund the government.Davenant is also credited with being the first to discuss the concept of Balance of Trade as being an important part of the financial health of a country. The foundation of the idea is that importing more goods than were exported would create an outflow of currency. He proposed in An Essay on Ways and Means of Supplying the War in 1695 that “export surplus was the best way to finance the war” as opposed to taking on long term debt and increasing taxes on landowners.
In 1696, Davenant wrote Essay on the East-India Trade, which continued the argument that imports should not be restricted because England was a net exporter of the goods imported from India. The restriction of imports would prevent re-exporting the goods to the rest of Europe, and that would decrease the total income of the government. He also expressed a great dislike and distrust of the Dutch government for most of his life, and feared that if Britain did not supply Indian imports the Dutch would supply Europe instead. He did seem to be the first to understand the basic concepts of consumer demand and perfect competition, even though bias against the Dutch stems more from fear of a political challenger to England than fear of losing the competitive advantage of England’s monopoly in India.